Improvement in implements for fire-arms



I. MERRILL.

IMPLEMENTS FOR FIRE-ARMS.

No. 174,634. Patented March14,187'6;.

Inventor.-

NJEI'ERS, FHOTO-LlTHOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON D. C.

; 'rnn STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

IRA MERRILL, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN IMPLEMENTS FOR FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No, 1 74,634, dated March14, 1876; application filed July 30, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IRA MERRILL, ofSpringfield, Massachusetts, have invented an Extractor for RemovingCartridge-Shells, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is to prbvide an extractor for removing theempty shells of cartridges, when their heads have been blown off, fromthe barrelof a breech-loading rifle. To illustrate the present state ofthe art, I will quote from the Rules for the Management of theSpringfield Rifle and Carbine. Ordnance Department, United States Army,1874. [Paragraph VIII, page 23.] the head of a cartridge come off in theact of firing, the best mode of extracting the shell is to take out aball from a cartridge and reduce it with a knife, or by rolling, so thatit can be inserted into the muzzle of the barrel. Ram the ball hard withthe ramrod when the breech-block is closed; this will upset the ball andfill the headless shell. Open the breech-block, and the ball and shellcan be easily pushed out with a ramrod.

By my invention all this may be avoided. All that is necessary to do isto open the breechblock, insert the extractor; give the part outside thebarrel a quarter turn, and then pull out the extractor, and the emptyshell will come out with it.

The extractor consists simply of two expanding-jaws, roughened on theiroutside by. having a thread out upon them. These jaws are made thin atone end, and are of springsteel. They are secured together by a rivet.Inside of these jaws is placed a cam, which, when turned around, causesthe jaws to expand.

The second part of my invention is the combination, in one implement, ofa cartridge-shell extractor, and a screw-driver and wrench.

Figure 1 shows the .extractor A, combined with the ordinaryscrew-drivers, punch, 860.,

Should now used in the army. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same, andshows the cam B on its rod 0. Both are made of the same piece of metalas the screw driver, punch, &c. Fig. 3 represents another view of thesame, and shows the two expandingjaws of the extractor A A The dottedlines D D represent the shell'oi' the empty cartridge. Fig. 4 is asectional view, showing the cartridge-shell D D and the extractor Ainserted into it. Fig. 5 shows the cam turned around so as to cause thetwo jaws A A to expand and press against the interior of thecartridge-shell D D.

The drawings so fully illustrate the invention that further descriptionseems unnecessary, the substance of the invention being an extractorhaving roughened sides to grasp the interior of an emptycartridge-shell. This may be done in many ways besides the one shown.As, for example, an ordinary pair of pinchers, having their outer edgesroughen ed, may be inserted into the empty shell, and then opened sothat the roughened surfaces will take firm hold of the interior of theshell, and then it can be removed; or a tapering screw may be made so asto be inserted into the shell, and thus remove it. But, in practice, anextractor made like the one shown in the drawing has proved to be thebest.

I claim as my invention 1. An extractor for removing the empty shells ofcartridges, having the expandingjaws A A operated by the cam B, as shownand described.

2. The combination of an extractor having expanding-jaws for removingthe empty shells of cartridges, with an ordinary army screwdriver-andwrench, substantially as v shown and described.

IRA MERRILL. Witnesses:

' M. P. KNOWLTON,

THOS. B. WARREN.

